IPAM Intelligence™

Introducing IPAM Intelligence™

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and related services – mainly the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name System (DNS) that work with the addresses – have become the foundation of today’s modern, complex IP voice and data networks. Without IP addresses and DHCP/DNS, there is no network.

The past ten years have witnessed simplistic approaches and primitive tools for managing, monitoring and administering IP addresses and services; ones that required constant manual intervention, while still failing to provide audit and reporting capabilities. With the growing volume and complexity of hybrid server networks and the addition of diverse IP devices and applications, what’s needed is a proactive, automated approach to IP Address Management (IPAM). This ‘intelligent’ approach addresses the strategic needs of organizations to control costs, maintain reliability and create competitive advantage while ensuring overall network security and regulatory compliance.

Defining IPAM Intelligence™

From the viewpoint of those responsible for controlling and updating IP networks, an intelligent, offer organizations five key capabilities: integration, management, control, visibility and continuity of core network services in a utility-grade, centralized platform.

Integration, in this case, refers to the enterprise’s ability to leverage current network investments and seamlessly integrate the IPAM solution into their existing infrastructure. To begin, migration tools that allow administrators to easily import data from other systems should be built in to your IPAM solution to reduce the time and complexity of getting it up and running.

In the same vein, a robust IPAM solution should be capable of centralizing all DNS/DHCP, across multiple platforms within the organization, including Microsoft Windows-based servers and BlueCat’s own Adonis appliances. Sophisticated APIs should facilitate integration with external systems and centralize all IP data to allow for an integrated view of the network.

Once complete integration is achieved, the need arises for a sophisticated but easy-to-use management tool that would reduce the time and effort spent configuring and managing your growing IP space. One of the first things that an IPAM platform would offer is a means for organizing the IP data by allowing for user-defined data tags to be added around network elements/objects. An intelligent IPAM platform would further allow administrators to quickly customize the data to their specific requirements, as well as search and navigate through the system based on their customized object tags.

IP Discovery tools enable build out configuration data to be based on real-time network information. Combined with a centralized management console, object tags, and advanced monitoring/reporting capabilities, and organizations instantly have the ability to easily find and allocate free addresses or networks. The enterprise that is able to control who, what, where, when and how IP addresses are allocated, tracked and reclaimed, is an enterprise with an effective, intelligent platform for managing its IP addresses.

Solutions displaying IPAM intelligence continue to deliver value long after the network is integrated, configured and better managed. Transparent, permission-based access with real-time event notification enables granular visibility into core network services and makes change management across a large, distributed network much more efficient.

Extensive audit trails give complete visibility into all administrative changes, which in turn facilitates governance and compliance with industry-specific regulations. Similarly, evolving networks also require an IPAM solution to simplify the control of the network services and resources. The IPAM solution should actively orchestrate user access control, and delegation settings regardless of their physical location. This gives administrators the ability to delegate access and change rights out to remote locations, while keeping an eye on everything from central office.

Capabilities are without value if network reliability is at risk. Continuity of service ensures your company is always able to conduct business. As such, IPAM solutions must have high availability features that result in no network downtime or loss of business services. An intelligent IPAM solution should have DHCP failover for load balancing and failover support – as well as separation of services to ensure that the network can run without the IPAM layer, or vice versa. Additionally, sophisticated error checking tools need to be a part of any IPAM solution, so as to eliminate mistakes before they can disrupt the network. Your IPAM platform should also safeguard your system by conducting automated backups regularly, should you need to recover from an unexpected disaster.

Delivering IPAM Intelligence™

One might think that this is a lot to ask of an IP Address Management solution. Fortunately, the Proteus IPAM Platform from BlueCat Networks represents the arrival of a new generation of dedicated IPAM appliances.

IPAM Intelligence. With new, innovative features and functionality that allow it to control Microsoft Windows DNS/DHCP servers, or BlueCat’s own award-winning Adonis appliances, Proteus is the ideal IPAM platform for managing the increasing complexity of IP networks.

IPAM Intelligence is here. Now enterprises of all sizes including government, military, financial, retail and manufacturing organizations can all have the integration, management, control, visibility and continuity they need to drive their business forward.